The Absol's Curse
by EmeraldDragon1
Summary: Leera is an Absol who tries to warn others of impending doom, but is shunned for who she is. When a trainer catches her, things begin to pick up. But can it last?
1. Chapter 1

**The Absol's Curse, Chapter 1**

**Hey guys, writing another one. Now, I know that my second story, Rag Doll, isn't finished yet. However, I thought it was a good idea to work on this one too, since I want to use it and it gives me something to do when I begin to lose interest in writing Rag Doll, or my inspirational pool dries up. It's not necessarily going to be a romance story, but it might have a romantic interest. I'm not sure just yet. So, I will begin this story, and I hope it will grab the attention of viewers.**

A Burning Hatred

She stared at the burning town, her disgust burning stronger than these flames, or any of the other flames she had seen before.

"_Humans are disgusting, pathetic, idiotic creatures" _she thought with contempt.

Her name is Leera, and she is an Absol that despises humans. In all other aspects, she was a creature of beauty, with perfectly snow white fur, glistening red eyes, and her blades, on her head and tail, were always kept in pristine condition. She was quite a marvel in the eyes of the male Absol, and even a few other Dark types. But to the humans, she meant nothing but death and disaster.

"_When will these pathetic humans realize that we don't bring on the disasters, they do it to themselves?!"_

Indeed, she had seen many cases of this. There was a dam a few years back that the humans hadn't properly maintained, so it broke and flooded their little town. Then the avalanche that was caused by their constant digging into the mountain. It was true, she couldn't blame them for the disasters that were out of their reach; earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, hurricanes and tornadoes. But where did they get the idea that _she _was the cause of it? She was no legendary; those kinds of powers were far out of her reach.

Nevertheless, wherever she went, the hunters followed. When would they get it through their thick skulls that she was trying to _help_ them? In the beginning, she had _tried_ to help them, and then would cringe when she was shouted at, pointed to in hatred. She also remembered the jeers. Oh, how she hated the jeers.

After watching the flames burn themselves out, she stood and left, having had enough. If it wasn't for the fact that she had to warn the humans about impending doom, she would have stopped trying long ago. She was almost sadistic one time; she nearly didn't bother trying to warn the humans about the typhoon that would lay waste to their homes. But alas, her sense of duty was too strong. She turned her head away and scoffed. The result had been the same as every other time before it struck; the humans didn't heed her warning, and they perished, all of them.

Biased, nasty creatures were they, and the ones who caught them were probably worse. Although, she had heard about some Absol who found kind, loving trainers. Maybe that would work for her, too?

In the midst of all her thinking, Leera hadn't noticed that she practically walked straight into a trainer himself. This came as a shock to her; normally she was so vigilant.

"_Guess that fire had me more upset than I realized" _she speculated to herself.

"Whoa, what's that?" the human asked the air. He brought out a small, rectangular item and directed it at Leera, whereupon it said

"_Absol, the Disaster Pokemon. It has the ability to foretell natural disasters. Its life span is over a hundred years. Known moves; Night Slash, Psycho Cut, Perish Song, and Sucker Punch."_

Leera didn't know what all that meant, but she was gratified to hear that she could _foretell _ natural disasters, not cause them. But that gratification faded away when the trainer put away the little device and brought out something else that was red, but it was round and was half white, too. He threw it up in the air, and with a flash of bright white light, a Ledian hovered above the ground. The human shouted out

"Alright, Scrap, we want to capture that Absol, so pull back your attacks just a bit, okay?"

The Ledian nodded to its trainer, then turned to face the Absol. That was kind of insulting. Did this human believe she couldn't stand an attack from this glorified ladybug? Please; she had been battling before he was even in diapers. Sensing an attack forming, she quickly used Sucker Punch and scored a direct hit. Then she began to charge up a Night Slash, but before she could execute it, an annoying buzzing noise filled the air, ruining her concentration and pushing her back a few steps.

Starting to get irritated now, she used Perish Song. It was a bit risky since it knocked her out too, but she was tired of looking at this human and wanted out of here already. Maybe the Perish Song would drive him away.

It didn't quite work that way. The trainer called back his Ledian and sent out a Haunter instead, which she thought was stupid, until it used Curse. Leera could feel her health dropping at an alarming rate, and her Sucker Punches weren't connecting. Then, out of the corner of her eye, she could see another red-and-white ball flying out, but at her!

She felt a bump on the head, then experienced the disorienting feeling of being shrunk down incredibly fast. The next thing she knew, she was in a small but sort of cozy enclosed space. It was odd, but it felt…nice, in a way. Out of nowhere, she heard a massive _click _and dread coursed through her. It couldn't be, it wasn't possible…had she been captured?!

Then a massive light appeared, and she felt a large growing sensation, and she was out in the forest, but not the forest she knew. This land was different, the trees were taller, and the air smelled cleaner, free from the smoky smell she had recently become reacquainted with. Turning, she saw the trainer she assumed had caught her, and apprehension filled her mind. He stared at her for about a minute, then said

"Hello, Absol. My name is Jeremy. I am your new trainer." She just stared at him for a few seconds, then asked

"What if I don't want a trainer?" Of course, she was a pokemon and he was a human, so all he heard was

"Ab sol sol Absol?" He grinned, then replied

"I can't understand you, you know. I wish I could, but I don't have enough money to get one of those pokespeak translators, at least not yet. And that's where you come in." Leera stared at him suspiciously, wondering what he could be talking about.

"We're going to travel all over the Kanto region and defeat many trainers, battle gym leaders, and eventually take on the Elite Four and the champion. We should be rolling in money by the time we're finished. If we play our cards right. What do you say?" Leera thought for a minute, then shrugged, knowing she didn't have a choice in the matter.

"All right then, it's settled. We're taking on the Kanto League!" Jeremy put Leera back into her ball, then set out to heal her at a pokemon center.

**Okay, that's the first chapter of a new story. This is a revised version since I noticed a few errors in the way I had this story planned out. I plan on working future chapters, so now you may eagerly wait for more! **


	2. Chapter 2

**The Absol's Curse, Chapter 2**

**Hey guys, sorry this took so long, I was finishing up on my second, now completed, story, Rag Doll. If you are interested, I urge you to read it. In the meantime, enjoy what I have for you!**

That's Not My Name!

Jeremy let Leera out of her ball and began to talk to her.

"Alright, so I want you to know that all my pokemon have a name besides their specie's names. I feel that this helps us grow closer together. I thought long and hard for yours, and I've decided to call you Alice. What do you think?" he looked at the Absol, waiting for her response. Leera stared at Jeremy and practically barked

"That's not my name!" But of course, being human, he couldn't understand her.

"That sounds like an affirmative to me! Okay, your new name is Alice!" He was too busy strutting ahead, proud of himself, to see the look of annoyance that Leera was throwing at him. Then she shook her sickle-horned head, thinking

"_What an idiot. And he thinks that name will make me closer friends with him? Well, he's in for a rude surprise."_

They walked on through the day, occasionally meeting up with a wild pokemon. It was clear to Leera that Jeremy must have evolved his pokemon quickly or just had a lot of dumb luck, because he wasn't very experienced when it came to battling. He called out the stupidest use of her moves at the worst of times. Many times Leera ignored his command and simply used the appropriate move for the situation, if a move was needed. He seemed overly fond of Perish Song and told her to use it almost every battle. It was just ridiculous, the mess she had gotten herself into. She had thought a trainer might improve her life, but if it was supposed to be this trainer, she would rather go back to her solitary confinement. At least there she knew how things had been run; it was a regular routine that could be depended on.

When Jeremy stopped for the night, he let loose the rest of his pokemon, the Ledian he called Scrap, the Haunter Leera despised right now, and one more, an Alakazam. Leera thought this was a rather motley crew, one that probably wouldn't last against a real trainer. She scoffed, flipped her hair back in place, then stalked as far as she could get without being automatically recalled into her ball. She figured that one out the hard way when she tried to run after their first disastrous battle. Jeremy hadn't even moved, and when he released her, he told Leera about its functions. She learned the distance she could travel, but only that certain distance. Well, it wasn't much, but it would have to do. When she found a nice, soft spot as far away as she could get, she settled down and closed her eyes to rest.

Back at the campfire, Jeremy was talking to his other three pokemon.

"Okay, guys, I want you to introduce yourselves to Alice. She doesn't seem to like me very much. Arthur," he directed the Alakazam "I want to try us talking through you until we can afford the translator, okay?" The Alakazam nodded his head, understanding.

"You two," he pointed over to the Ledian, Scrap, and the Haunter, Spook, "she might not like you very much right now, but I still want you to try and be friendly with her. We want her to be on our side, okay?" Scrap and Spook both nodded, eager to make their master happy.

"I'll start making dinner and I'll call you all over when it's ready." With that, the three pokemon walked/floated/flew to Leera, who stridently ignored them.

"Wazzup?!" the Ledian shouted obnoxiously. Leera just scowled at him and returned her head to its previous position. The Haunter decided to try his own approach, which no one, not even Jeremy, appreciated. He disappeared and reappeared in front of Leera and shouted

"Boo!"

She jumped and whacked him with the broadside of her tail, sending him flying back a few feet toward the camp. Scrap fluttered over to him to check his condition. At this point, Arthur believed it was time to get the ball rolling. He walked next to Leera's, although he knew her as Alice, position, which she had reclaimed and sat next to her. She didn't acknowledge his presence, and he could sense many negative waves coming off of her.

"You throw off bad vibes, child" he told her. Rolling her eyes, she said sarcastically

"Gee, thanks Bob Marley. Why don't you go sing a song to pick your friend up? Maybe you can even share a joint and get a bit of inspiration." She turned her head away and heard him chuckle at her response.

"Well, I see you have no particular liking for us, but I am the first one you actually spoke to. Care to explain that, as well as why you currently feel so negative?" Leera didn't even look at him as she replied

"What's it to you?" Arthur thought for a moment, then replied

"Well, we shall be traveling together for a while to come, it seems. You are the first female that Jeremy has encountered, which is interesting in itself. I cannot predict how he will treat you-"

"But aren't you psychic, or am I mistaken about that, too?" Leera interrupted.

"No, you are not mistaken, child. However, events are always unpredictable. Even when we tell the future, there is never any guarantee that those events will actually occur." Leera snorted at this and said

"Bah, what do you know?"

"What do you mean, child?" asked Arthur. Leera rounded on him and shouted

"That's none of your business! And quit calling me child, I'm probably older than you are, not that I'll tell _you _my age. And don't even think of asking; I won't answer." Chuckling again, Arthur said

"That's what I believed when I first spoke to you. But yet, we are having a conversation right now, albeit a bit of a one-sided conversation. Still, this is much farther than what Scrap and Spook have accomplished combined. Why did you consent to talk to me, anyway? I am rather curious." Snorting again, Leera stated

"Don't you know curiosity killed the cat?" Arthur raised an eyebrow and retorted

"A rather bland and overused statement, one that I could easily perceive as a threat to my personal well-being. Be that as it may, it seems like our dinner is finished, and after the day of battling you have had, I am sure you are famished." Leera's stomach answered that for her by growling loudly. She growled back and stated

"Traitor." This got Arthur laughing, and when he recovered he stood and offered Leera a hand up, which she refused and walked over to the fire by herself, barely acknowledging Jeremy.

"Okay guys, eat up!" he said to them. It was the strangest meal Leera had ever seen. It was also sorted to specific diets. Arthur and Scrap got an assortment of wild berries accompanied by human drinks. As a ghost, Spook needed nothing. Jeremy had cooked Leera some sort of meat that she sniffed suspiciously. She eyed Jeremy, wondering what it was. He caught her look and said

"Don't worry, its beef! Not the finest grade, I admit, but when you're starting out, you make do with what you can. Besides, with all the spices and such that I added, it tastes pretty good. Or are you worried that I might have poisoned it?"

With that question in the air, the boy took two strange silver handheld objects and pulled the plate to him. He cut off a small piece using one to do the actual cutting while the other object held the meat in place. Then he deliberately lifted the small portion of meat slowly but surely, never taking his eyes off Leera. He chewed slowly and swallowed, then smiled and said

"See, I'm fine, Alice. Now go ahead and eat, it turned out better than I thought. I figured that since you're a carnivore, and you were wild, you would be accustomed to raw meat. This meat is mostly raw, or rare as we call it, but I cooked it enough to set the spices and get rid of any bacteria. Now you can eat without having to worry about getting sick."

Leera still wasn't sure about the wisdom of eating anything human-made, but the boy did seem fine, and she couldn't hunt with her new limit. She cautiously took a bite, noticing Jeremy staring at her out of the corner of his eye. Her own eyes widened when she realized that this… beef… was actually very good! Then she calmed herself so as not to betray her emotions to the boy she still did not trust. But the damage was done. Leera could see triumph in the boy's eyes, but he didn't do anything. He didn't even blink, which greatly surprised her. She had often seen humans who acted like morons when they accomplished something they believed to be important. She had even seen them take it so far as to spin wildly in place, shouting affirmations to the birds above. She snorted with derision at the memory, which drew Jeremy's attention to her, but he did not comment on it.

After they were finished eating dinner, Jeremy washed the dishes they had used in a nearby stream. When that was done, he set up a strange shelter made entirely out of some sort of cloth. When he finished doing that, he brought up the pokeballs. Leera retreated several steps, not wanting to be stuck in that cursed thing if she could help it.

"What's wrong, Alice? You don't want to return to your pokeball?" Jeremy asked Leera.

She growled both in affirmation at the question and irritation at the name. Jeremy brought his arms down and thought for a moment.

"Do you prefer to sleep in the day and roam around at night?"

Leera shrugged, not having a definite answer. As a Dark type, it was commonly believed that she would stalk the night and find a place to sleep during the day. And sometimes she did; but she had learned in the past that nothing really interesting happened at night, but if circumstance demanded that she move around at night, then at night she would move. Otherwise, she was a daytime roamer.

"Okay, I guess I can leave you out of your ball for tonight. But I can't let you take that liberty every night; that's not fair to the others. Further, I won't have you sleeping anywhere other than my tent. So make your choice; your ball or my tent. What'll it be, Alice?"

Without even stopping to consider, Leera ran up to the pokeball and touched it, being sucked in immediately with the disorienting feeling of being shrunk down, then being stuck in empty space.

"_There is no way I would ever sleep in the same area as him consciously if I have anything to say about it."_

"Well, that was easy…" Jeremy said, a little uneasy. Putting Alice's ball away, he directed the other three to his remaining pokemon and said

"We got a big day ahead of us, guys, so go ahead and get some rest."

Three red lines connected to the pokemon and sucked them in their respective pokeballs. With that finished, Jeremy blanketed the fire and ducked inside his tent. He wondered how well his conversations with Alice would go, if she even consented to talk. But that would have to wait, because he needed rest right now.

**Okay, second chapter finished! I don't know just how long I'll be able to stretch this one, but I'll give it my all. Read and review please!**


	3. Chapter 3

**The Absol's Curse, Chapter 3**

**Alright, comin' out with a new chapter for ya! I have an exciting scene planned ahead for you, but I won't say more than that XD. Please enjoy!**

What I will do…

The next morning Jeremy woke up and yawned widely, then rose and exited his tent. He cleared away the debris from last night's fire and began anew. After skillfully setting the blaze up, he began foraging for their breakfasts. He managed to find some berries from a bush he had found along the path, one of the reasons he chose to settle in the area for the night. Then he brought out some of the bacon and eggs he had stored in his pack as well as a pan. He sorted out the berries so Arthur and Scrap would have equal amounts, and then set some drinks aside for them. While he did that, he let the pan heat up over the fire. Then when it was ready, he cracked open a couple of eggs and laid the strips gently down. He could feel the grease popping onto his arm, but he was used to that kind of thing. His mother never really cooked, mostly just hung around other guys. And while he had suspicions about what she did with them, he ignored them, wanting to believe the best about his mother. His father had left before he was born, or so he was told. Jeremy's mother wasn't abusive, just a bit… neglectful. As a result, Jeremy learned how to cook for himself. He also had rich grandparents who actually cared about him. In fact, they were the whole reason he was a trainer. He had been glad to leave the house and explore the world.

When breakfast was finally ready, he ducked back into his tent and retrieved his four pokemon. Then he exited and held out the pokeballs, two in each hand as he said

"Alright guys, soup's on!"

The four balls burst open with a resounding popping noise, and his four pokemon stood before him, Scrap and Spook eager to start the day, Arthur cool and composed, and Alice looking somewhere else other than him. He let the pokeballs come down to his sides and shrunk them, returning them to his belt. Then he led them over to the fire and directed Scrap and Arthur to their breakfast, whereupon they thanked him in their language. How he wished he could understand them…

Spook on the other hand began pestering Alice. Just as Jeremy began to warn him not to do that, Alice swung her tail blade and smacked Spook right across the face, even as she had last night. Jeremy just laughed as Spook picked himself up and floated over to Jeremy, who said to him

"You're a glutton for punishment, you know that? I hope you learn your lesson from this; stop trying to torment Alice."

As Jeremy said her name, he spotted her irritated posture, and he wondered about its significance. Spook turned to face her and started to disappear, probably in an attempt to startle her. She began to growl, raising her hackles as she did. Spook yelped and became fully visible again, then darted behind Jeremy's back and blew a raspberry in Alice's direction. Alice just flipped her snow white hair and walked over to the fire. Jeremy joined her and split the bacon and eggs with her. As he set the plate down he told her

"Hope you like scrambled. That's the only way I can eat my eggs, but I never found out why."

Alice rolled her eyes, then bent her head to sniff the offering, then took a tentative bite. As she swallowed, Jeremy could see a shudder run through her body. After a moment's pause, she attacked the rest of her meal with gusto. When she was finished, she looked sheepishly up at Jeremy, who had just started his meal. He caught her eye, then flipped a bit of his eggs and a piece of bacon onto her plate. She shyly bent her head down, a small blush covering her cheeks. She consumed the food again, but slowly this time, savoring its flavor. Jeremy couldn't help but smile, thinking that despite Alice being female, he might win his way to her heart through her stomach. He wasn't a bad chef, and he was always eager to learn and try a new recipe. He hoped she would open up a little more to him as they went along on their journey.

When they all finished breakfast, Jeremy cleaned his dishes and threw the remaining trash in a convenient nearby trash can that had the sign "Please Don't Litter" on it. Then they began walking down the path, Jeremy willing to let his pokemon enjoy the fresh air and sunshine. Then he decided to put his plan into action.

"Hey, Alice?" he started. The Absol barely looked at him, not quite acknowledging his words.

"I want to talk to you. Since I don't have the translator yet, I want you to talk normally. Arthur can speak to me telepathically." Seeing her confused face, he rushed to explain.

"It's something that psychics can do. Essentially he can relay his thoughts in a sort of spoken form, but in my mind." A look of understanding flitted across her face before being replaced by her usual scowl, turning away from him.

"So, what would you like to talk about, Alice?"

"Ab, ab ab sol ab. Absol sol ab" she replied. Jeremy looked at Arthur expectantly, who said

"_She said she has nothing to say to you, except that's not her name." _Jeremy's eyes widened, and he asked

"So what is your name?" The Absol hesitated before saying

"Absol."

"_Leera."_

"Really, your name is Leera?" Jeremy asked her. She hesitated again, then nodded once.

"Okay then. From now on I'll call you Leera, how's that?"

"Ab ab, Absol sol."

"_She says that's better." _Grunting, Jeremy thought for a few seconds, then asked her

"Why did you ignore my commands in those battles yesterday?" Leera flipped her hair again and snorted, then said with derisiveness

"Ab Absol, sol sol ab. Absol ab, sol sol ab."

"_She states that she believes you to be an incompetent trainer, so she made the decisions that she believed would win the battle."_

That stopped Jeremy for a moment. He didn't turn to her as he pondered his words. When he started walking again, he responded

"Ouch."

Leera felt somewhat guilty at this response. She had expected him to turn and shout at her, or try to return her to that cursed sphere as punishment. Instead, he only said one word that voiced the dejection he felt from this one recent addition. Compelled to leave things on a lighter note, she blushed and said softly

"Ab, sol ab Absol." Jeremy turned to look at her, then at Arthur and asked

"What does that mean?"

"_But you're a good cook." _Jeremy stopped and blinked at Leera, who couldn't look him in the face. Then he smiled widely and continued walking down the path saying

"Well, thanks, Leera. It's not often that I get to cook for others. To know that somebody else actually _likes _my cooking gives me more reason to try harder at it. I think I'll make a special dinner tonight. Maybe some Magikarp. Or do you like fish?" he asked, turning to her again. Leera shrugged, then responded

"Ab sol, Absol Absol."

"_She doesn't know; she's never tried it."_

"Well, then, you're in luck. It happens to be one of my better dishes. At some point, though, I want to make a berry stew or casserole so Arthur and Scrap can join in. If Spook wasn't a Ghost type, I would happily make whatever he would eat. I feel that pokemon should be treated as equals, and I have tried that pokefood, just to understand what it was like. That may sound odd to you, a human eating pokefood, but I had to know, and as they say 'Don't knock it until you try it.' Well, I tried it, and I knocked it. Since Scrap and Arthur haven't suffered from the special diet I give them, I figured it could be the same for you, Leera. Of course, seeing as you eat meat and they only eat berries, I'm still not sure if feeding you this way is the best thing for you."

Jeremy paused for a moment, then told her

"It doesn't matter how much you hate me, if you start feeling ill, I want you to tell me immediately. And don't try to hold out on it. I don't want to send you into battle and find out you can't move because I'm feeding you badly. Okay?"

Leera only nodded, understanding, and the group kept walking down their path.

**That night…**

The group stopped to make camp, and while Arthur set up the tent, exercising his psychic powers, Jeremy accompanied Leera to a nearby stream so she could catch the Magikarp for their dinner. He stopped when he reached the maximum distance before Arthur was sucked into his pokeball and let Leera continue. She stopped at the edge of the stream, then crouched and eyed the surface. Jeremy marveled at the beauty of the creature standing before him. Now, before you say anything, he was not a pokephiliac, though he knew of the issue. He simply admired the fact that wherever Leera went, she always managed to keep her fur in pristine condition, and he had even spotted her sharpening her blades against some rocks along the way. She was proud of her appearance, as well she should be. Jeremy had a feeling that her fur wouldn't look so pristine after this venture, though.

He watched as she pounced suddenly into the middle of the river, and after a flurry of white water, she surfaced holding a red, bulky fish-like thing in her jaws with yellow whiskers.

"Atta girl! That's exactly what we want!" he cheered for her. She stepped out of the stream, set the fish down, then shook herself hard to dispel as much water as possible. Jeremy called to Arthur to join them, and when he got closer Jeremy walked over to Leera and retrieved their dinner. He went to the stream and cleaned the fish of dirt and blood, then carried it back to the camp. There he scaled and cleaned it further, then set about cooking it. While he cooked, Leera began licking herself to clean all of the water off her coat. Scrap and Arthur started eating their meal, and by the time they were finished, Leera's and Jeremy's meal was ready. He split it up again and also added some extra berries, crushing sitrus berries over the Magikarp.

Once again, Leera was impressed with Jeremy's cooking skills. Maybe she should give him another chance in battle. But she wasn't ready to submit to him yet; he still hadn't proven himself her superior. She could hunt by herself if she wasn't chained to him. He hadn't been very good at calling her moves out yet, but maybe he really was just inexperienced. She would bring it up if he decided to talk again. When they finished eating, Jeremy asked her

"So, Leera, did you like it?"

"It was very good. What do you have planned for me, anyway? I know you said that I was going to help you and your team build up money so you could afford one of those translators, but I'm not confident that you know how to battle with me yet. And I don't wish to submit to you until you can prove yourself to me as my superior."

When the message was passed on, Jeremy regarded her with shock for a moment, then his gaze darkened and he said

"You know, if I was any other trainer, I would have punished you for that insolent remark. I am the trainer here." Leera decided to challenge him.

"Fine, then prove it. Face against me, and if you win, then I will submit. If you lose, then I want to be released." When Jeremy understood, he began laughing loudly, then said

"It's hardly a fair match when you have those blades on your head and tail and I have nothing." Leera smirked and said

"All's fair in love and war. However, I will allow you to take up arms with anything you can find, excepting your pokemon." When that was relayed, Jeremy turned to her and said

"Anything I want?"

"Up to two items" Leera answered. Thinking for a moment, Jeremy reached forward and grabbed the handle of his skillet and his spatula. He raised them up to her eye level and asked

"May I use these?"

"If you want" Leera shrugged.

With that, Jeremy stood and assumed a battle stance, flipping the skillet and spatula from one hand to the other, testing his proficiency with his new weapons. He never took his eyes off Leera, who was carefully circling him. When she pounced, he ducked forward and flipped, then smacked her belly with the skillet, knocking the breath out of her. She landed in a heap, caught her breath, then shakily stood and growled

"Lucky shot." Jeremy smirked and twirled the frying pan in his hand, then asked her

"Give up yet?"

"Oh, not even close."

Leera charged a Psycho Cut and charged Jeremy, who waited crouched. At the last second, he dodged to her right. Expecting something of the sort, she deftly twisted her body to nail him with her tail blade. He lifted the skillet to parry, meeting her tail with a loud _clang_.

Then he reached behind him and caught her horn blade in the rungs of his spatula, tugging hard and causing her to lose her footing. They both ended up on the ground, but while Jeremy was in a kneeling position, Leera wasn't looking so graceful anymore, flopped all over the ground as she was. She rose, thinking

"_This human is better at battling than I gave him credit for. I should never have granted him use of those weapons."_

Cracking her neck, she started prowling, searching for a weakness she could exploit. She saw him panting heavily from his exertions, and she smirked since she was self-trained and could still keep going for a while.

"_I'll end this with the next shot" _she thought smugly.

The pan, in his right hand, drifted down to his side somewhat, and she bolted for him thinking to attack this weak point before he recovered. Then he did something she not only didn't expect, but amazed her. He quickly crouched and jumped over her in a front-flip, and as he passed over her, he swung his arm. The result was a sharp pain at the back of her head, a flash of a hundred different colors all at once, and she stumbled and fell heavily. The bright lights began to swirl in her vision, and when they faded, she briefly saw two Jeremy's rise to their full height. She shook her head, and her vision shortly returned to normal. She tried to stand, but the earth underneath her swooped and she fell flat on her face. Leera tried again and got the same result.

"_Master, I do believe you have hurt her."_

That was Arthur, speaking so that everyone could hear him as if he were talking. Jeremy kept his weapons up, though, and replied

"If she surrenders, then I'll attend to her injuries. If she insists on continuing, then we will."

Leera tried to stand slowly, this time, and accomplished it. But when she lifted a paw, she was back on the ground.

"I can't fight anymore. I submit" Leera said in disgust.

"_She submits Master, but she is unhappy to admit it."_

"Of course she is. Nobody likes losing, and now she has to rely on me to help her" Jeremy responded, throwing his weapons back to the fire, then walking over to his ground-ridden Absol. He picked her up, and asked if it hurt. She shook her head, so he continued. He set her upright, placing her paws on the ground but keeping her lying there. Then he gently pushed aside the fur on the back of her head and softly applied pressure. Leera hissed as she felt a small amount of pain, and Jeremy lifted his hand with an apology.

"Do you have any double vision?" he asked her. She shook her head and replied

"Not anymore." When Arthur relayed her words, he patted her on the back and said

"Then you're fine. There's no blood, although you'll have a nice bump tomorrow, and you don't have a concussion. I want you to sleep in my tent so I can keep an eye on you, just in case, alright?"

"Is that an order… Master?" Leera asked, spitting out the last word, hating it.

Jeremy considered her for a moment, then came to a decision.

"Yes. Until I am sure that you aren't harmed at all, I don't want you moving around. So…"

And he proceeded to pick her up and carry her over to his tent. He set her in the middle of the sleeping bad he used. Then he went back outside and cleaned up the camp as well as returned his pokemon. Then he entered the tent to find that Leera had shifted positions, taking a corner at the back of the tent, as far away as she could get. He didn't question this as he crawled into the sleeping bag and turned out his lantern with a

"Good night, Leera."

She watched him for a few minutes, unsure if she could trust him. Finally, her weariness overcame her and she fell into a dreamless sleep.

**Bam, did it! What do you think about my human/pokemon battle? Some weapons, huh? Anyway, let me know what you think!**


	4. Chapter 4

**The Absol's Curse, Chapter 4**

**I really wonder, does anyone even bother to read these things? If it has any information, I tend to. But I guess it kind of depends on the story, huh? Oh well, so far Leera's relationship was picking up with Jeremy, but that's all probably gone downhill with Jeremy laying her down on the ground with little problem.**

As you wish…

Leera woke up the next morning, feeling worse for wear. Her stomach ached, her legs still felt twisted up, and there was a throbbing pain at the back of her head that made her grit her teeth. Well, today was sure to prove interesting.

She glanced at the sleeping form of her master… ugh, even thinking it filled her with disgust and made her want to vomit. In fact, she was half tempted to puke on him, and her throbbing body was hardly changing her mind. In the end, though, she decided against it; it simply wasn't worth the effort and trouble. Little though she wanted to, Leera forced herself to stand and walk out the tent. Then she began to stretch her body in an attempt to ease out the stiffness that had accumulated during her slumber. This was painful in itself, but she persisted until her sore muscles began to unknot.

When she finished, her legs felt tremendously better, and her stomach wasn't as bad as she first thought. None of this had helped her head, though. She lay on the ground and tried to reach behind her head with her front right paw, in an attempt to assess the damage. Unfortunately, her front paws were not built for the task. She didn't want to try using her back paws, the ones she used to scratch her head and neck, because she didn't want to cause unnecessary pain for herself. That was the risk she ran with her front paw, true, but she felt there was a difference.

She heard a sleepy moan, then the shifting of fabric, and soon her master exited the tent and said

"Good morning, Leera." She merely grunted and turned in the other direction. Amused, Jeremy teased her.

"Oh, still sore about last night, huh? Both figuratively and literally."

Leera said nothing at all, which made Jeremy chuckle. He retrieved his pan and spatula, the two objects of Leera's consternation, and began preparing breakfast. When he finished, he brought out some stored berries for Scrap and Arthur, then released Leera's teammates. They all ate, though Leera wasn't paying attention to what she was fed, and soon they broke camp and left down the trail they had been following the past few days. Leera decided to take this time to ask Jeremy another question.

"Where are we going? Where is this trail taking us?" After Arthur translated for her, Jeremy responded

"Right now we're heading to Pewter City. I need to restock on some supplies, then we'll challenge the local gym. A Rock type gym, if I remember correctly. Therefore, we have an advantage, or at least no disadvantages, besides Scrap. We'll train as we go along. I need to get a better idea of what you can do, Leera, so we'll practice together, okay?"

She only grumbled in a sort of assent, hoping that the boy would not be so hasty for her to use Perish Song. It was only useful in certain situations, and it was very risky given that it made her faint, too. The only reason she really learned it was because the idiot humans she had dealt with in the past had always run in terror from her when she began that beautiful but haunting melody. She always stopped before it took full effect, though, and it always got the job done. Even if the humans hadn't already run away, all it took was a look that said

"_Leave before I finish."_

That pretty much did the trick. It was a strange, lonely life, but she had grown accustomed to it. But now, as a trainer's pokemon, the move would surely come to be of more use. Looking up at Jeremy, she could see his eyebrows knitted together, thinking hard about something. Maybe he _was_ going to take this battling business seriously, or else he was thinking how he could regain the closeness he thought he had with her. Before she could snort with derision, however, a loud piercing scream tore through the air, making all present pause for a moment, then take off after Jeremy, following the noise.

"_Great, another distraction…" _Leera thought, and from another human, no doubt. On they ran, however, only stopping when Jeremy halted about ten feet from a young girl who was flat on her butt, panting something fierce. She was wearing blue overall shorts with a red long-sleeve shirt. She had a large bag lying next to her, though it was nothing compared to the size of her hat, which was knocked askew, revealing brown hair that was pulled into loose pigtails. Jeremy closed the distance between them and offered a hand up, which she took.

"What happened?" Jeremy asked her as she regained her footing, she said

"I was just walking along the path, minding my own business, when suddenly this large blue dog appeared out of nowhere and ran past me, shoving me down. Then this really weird guy in a purple tuxedo with a white cape showed up, shouting something about never stopping until he found her. I didn't know what to make of it!"

Jeremy pushed his hair aside, frowning in thought. Then he asked

"What's your name?"

"Lyra, what's yours?"

"I'm Jeremy, nice to meet you. Where were you heading?"

"I was on my way to Pewter City; I was going to challenge the gym there. I just recently finished the Johto League, see?" She pulled out a case and opened it, revealing eight shiny pieces of metal that Leera assumed were the badges that Jeremy was so interested in.

"Wow!" shouted Jeremy, his eyes shining like the badges. Lyra giggled and shut the case, returning it to her bag. The she slung it around her shoulder and asked

"So, where are you heading? And who are your pokemon?"

Jeremy stood there, looking stupid. It was only when Arthur nudged him did he start breathing again. Leera rolled her eyes, Spook chuckled, Scrap looked confused, and Arthur stood there with a knowing smile on his face. Jeremy shook himself quickly and said

"Oh, uh…um… this is my Alakazam. His name is Arthur. Over there is my Ledian, Scrap. That's my…"

He paused for a second, looking around, then faced his pokemon and asked

"Guys, where did Spook go?"

A sudden shrill scream rent the air, and Jeremy flinched, Scrap started laughing, Arthur facepalmed, and Leera sighed and stepped over to Lyra, smacking Spook away from her, making sure it was extra painful this time around. Spook landed at Jeremy's feet with a muffled _flop_, and Jeremy sighed and picked him up, forcing Spook to face him.

"What am I going to do with you? Apologize to Lyra right now."

Spook was released from his grasp, and he floated over to Lyra, apparently shamefaced. However, when he stopped in front of her, his face picked back up and he blew an extra slobbery raspberry at her, before meeting up with Leera's tail again. Jeremy pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed heavily, saying wearily

"Thank you, Leera. Well, it looks like you have been acquainted with Spook, and you have been rescued by Leera, the Absol there."

Lyra looked down and studied Leera for the first time, and Leera mentally prepared herself for the verbal and emotional abuse that was sure to follow. What actually happened astonished her.

"Oh cool, an Absol! Those are really rare, where did you find it?" Leera was sorting out what she had just heard versus what she was expecting and heard Jeremy answer.

"I found her just walking around several days back on the other trail leading to a small town close to the sea. Strange news, though. Apparently the town was next to an active volcano, so it recently burned down. I wondered if Leera was there, trying to warn the people about it. After all, they can sense natural disasters." Leera shone with pride and quailed in fear at this statement. She wondered how Lyra would react to this news.

"Oh, so you saw the town? Did you try to warn the people, Leera?"

Leera nodded apprehensively, fearing the worst. Lyra's face brightened up and she said hopefully

"So they got out in time?" Here Leera snorted derisively and shook her head dismissively. Lyra appeared shocked.

"Don't you care about the people you try to save?" Leera shrugged her shoulders, then went to work on her paw where some mud had splattered. She could feel Lyra's gaze on her, and felt she knew what was coming next. But again, she was surprised.

"Actually, I've been having some difficulty working with her. I don't know how old she is, but my guess is old compared to us. And I've heard plenty of rumors about Absol being persecuted since it's believed they _cause_ the disasters, not foretell them." Lyra looked askance, then hugged Leera and said

"That's ridiculous! How could these cute little puppies cause harm to anyone? I just think they're absolutely adorable!"

Leera was squirming a bit in Lyra's grasp, uncomfortable with being touched by a human. Lyra was either dim or pretended not to notice since she kept hold of her. Leera eventually gave up and sat there, still uncomfortable in her grasp and wanting nothing more than to smack her across the face with her tail, even as she does Spook. Finally, Lyra let go and said

"You still haven't answered my first question; where are you heading?" Jeremy was watching something else. Leera was slowly standing, raising her tail threateningly. Only when she began to aim did Jeremy address her, firmly but not to the point where Lyra would be suspicious.

"Leera, come here." Leera glanced to her trainer, then back at her recent tormentor, then growled in frustration and slunk back to Jeremy. He made sure to watch as she sat by his leg and continued to groom herself. Turning back to Lyra, he said

"To answer your question, we're heading to Pewter City, too. I need to restock on some supplies and then I want to challenge the gym leader there. I'm pretty well just starting on my journey, and I figured it would be a good starting point." Lyra regarded him with some confusion, then asked

"If you're just starting, then how do you have three evolved pokemon already?" Rubbing the back of his head sheepishly, Jeremy answered

"Well, you see, when I was about six or seven, I found Arthur in my back yard. He was injured pretty badly, so I restored him to health. Since I wasn't a trainer yet, I didn't have any pokeballs, and I didn't quite trust the nurses who seemed to want pokemon to be injured so they could heal them."

"You know they're there to help, right? They don't mean any harm. Besides, they probably get lonely standing behind a counter all day, injured pokemon is the only contact they get to the outside world!" Jeremy glanced nervously at her and said

"Uh, Lyra? I don't think they live there twenty-four-seven, I'm pretty sure they have lives of their own."

Lyra laughed and said

"Yeah, sorry about that. Sometimes I overthink things and go overboard. But at least I'm not like my friend Ethan, he's too serious sometimes. Like when we were fighting against Team Rocket recently, he was working so hard on it I thought he was going to pass out from the strain! He needs to learn how to cut loose some!"

"Oh," Jeremy coughed "So you… uh… are uh… um…" Lyra tilted her head and asked

"What?"

"N-never mind, it-it doesn't matter…" Her head went back to its normal position and she brightly said

"Okay, then, since we're going the same way, we might as well travel together and keep ourselves and our pokemon safe."

And without further ado, she turned and continued walking down the path. Looking back, Leera could see Jeremy blushing a bit, and she almost laughed out loud from the sight. Lyra turned her head and said

"Well, you comin' or what? It's still a while to Pewter City, so we might as well cover some ground on the way!"

"Uh, coming!" Jeremy shouted after her, running to catch up. Leera smirked and shook her head, then followed shortly after. Maybe this wouldn't be such a bad day after all.

**Done with this one. Prepare yourselves for the next chapter to be posted, which will happen after I write it, which will happen when I'm good and ready to. XD**


	5. Chapter 5

**The Absol's Curse, Chapter 5**

**Well, here we go again. While I'm here, I want to give a big thank you to all my devoted readers. It makes me feel good to know that my work **_**is **_**appreciated, and encourages me to continue. So, you know the drill.**

Desperate Times Call For Desperate Measures…

As they continued forward to Pewter City, Leera could spot Jeremy glancing periodically at Lyra. She smirked every time she caught him doing this, and was hoping that Lyra would as well. It would give her great pleasure to watch her…master…squirm. Leera still did not like the word; it was ill befitting of her. She had never served under anyone after she went on her own, and to have that change as suddenly as barely even a week ago! It was very frustrating, to say the least.

Lyra was surprisingly strong for a female of her species, or so Leera thought. She certainly didn't whine about sore feet or tiredness or the like, which Leera had heard quite often from human females. And while Lyra had a knack for coming across angry, wild pokemon, she seemed more than capable of handling her own pokemon. Leera was impressed by her battling skills. Why couldn't she have been captured by her instead?

These thoughts ran through Leera's head as they walked down the same path for the next several hours. By Jeremy's account, they still had a few more days of travel. Lyra didn't refute this, so Leera assumed it to be true. When they stopped for the night, Jeremy began pulling out his cooking supplies while Lyra and Arthur set up their respective tents. Leera merely sat by the fire, opposite from Jeremy, of course, while the sounds and smells of the cooking dinner were wafting around the area. When Lyra was finished with her tent, she threw her bag inside and brought out six pokeballs from her waist, then released them all with a shout of

"Come on out, guys!"

After six flashes of light, Leera could see who Lyra's team consisted of; a Meganium, a Togetic, a Lucario, an Ampharos, a Marill, and a Xatu. Leera looked at them all, not particularly liking the Lucario, who seemed not to care. The Meganium gave off a sweet yet spicy smell, one that aroused both peace and the will to fight. Leera had a hard time not inhaling it, but she wished to remain uncaring, or at least appear it. The Togetic appeared, for lack of a better word, ecstatic. For whatever reason, the strange looking pokemon was brimming with excitement. Leera stared at it, confused, and it responded with a sunny smile, figuratively blinding her. The Ampharos seemed cool and composed, drinking in the sights outside of its pokeball. The Marill jumped up to Lyra and was then held in her arms, and the two seemed to share a special bond. Even so, the sight did nothing to warm Leera's cold heart. The Xatu was a weirdo, just staring off into space or whatever. The sight actually creeped Leera out, it was just standing there, doing nothing but staring. Staring.

Shaking her head to break her gaze, she focused on the last one, the Lucario. It was also eyeing her, and she could tell that it wanted to fight. She would be more than glad to accommodate it, but felt it would lead to trouble if she started it. So she began grooming herself. It wasn't really necessary, but it broke her gaze without directly challenging the potential opponent. Meanwhile, a conversation was struck up between the two humans.

"Wow, you have a full party. Where did you get that Lucario, isn't it indigenous to the Sinnoh region?" Jeremy asked her. Lyra nodded, then said

"Yes, but I have a friend over in Sinnoh, and she wanted to see some Johto pokemon. So I traded her an Ursaring I had in return for a Riolu. I quickly became friends with him, and he evolved not long after."

"I see…" said Jeremy, then gestured at the rest.

"What about them?" Lyra looked down at her Marill and said

"Well, I found him in the water that makes up part of the ocean near my home, Newbark. When I officially started my journey, I chose Chikorita as my starter. I got Togetic originally as an egg that hatched into Togepi. As for Xatu and Ampharos, I found a Natu in the Ruins of Alph, and I came across a Mareep in the route below Violet City. Over time, as we beat the gyms, we grew really close, and there was a lot of evolving going on, I can tell you."

Nodding, Jeremy began to split up the food and passed a plate over to Lyra, who joined them by the fire. Then he set a plate aside for Leera, who ambled over, attempting to convey death to any who dared touch her food. Lyra's eyes widened when she saw Leera begin to eat the food, and her head jolted up to meet Jeremy's eyes, saying

"You feed your pokemon human food?! Don't you know that can be bad for their health?!" Jeremy shrugged and said

"Only if you over-feed them or don't give them anything essential to their diets. Leera's a carnivore, so I feed her meat. Scrap and Arthur are herbivores, so I feed them wild berries and certain vegetables. I can't feed Spook anything since he's a ghost and doesn't eat anyway. Speaking of which, where is that devil?"

At that moment they all heard a series of babbles behind them, and upon turning discovered that Spook was trying to heckle the Xatu, but was failing miserably. He circled him ominously, shouted in his face, and even took to distorting his body in hideous ways, but the Xatu didn't so much as blink. Leera shuddered at the strangeness of the colorful bird, sure that it wouldn't be able to hold up in battle. Spook began to tire, but made one last attempt. He pushed against the Xatu's chest, tipping him on the back points of his feet, then releasing him. The Xatu only rocked back and forth until he settled into his original position, still not blinking. Dejected, Spook floated over to the rest of the group and began to sulk. Tormenting Leera had been painful, yes, but at least he had gotten a reaction out of her. But this Xatu was just a freak of nature, so it would be best to leave him alone.

Everyone who had been watching him began laughing at the Haunter's reaction. When everything died down, Lyra began complimenting Jeremy on his cooking skills. Jeremy responded by blushing and scratching the back of his head nervously, saying something about it being nothing at all, he was happy to cook!

Then Leera stood and walked over to the Xatu, intending to give it a formal challenge. She stood in front of it and gave a loud bark to grab its attention. It didn't work, so she tried again.

"What are you doing, Leera? I expect that kind of behavior from Spook, not you." Leera looked over at Arthur and told him

"Explain that I want to test this bird and see just what's wrong with it." Arthur turned to Jeremy and relayed the message, making it so Lyra could hear as well.

"Leera, I don't think that's a good idea. And I don't think that Lyra would want to battle right now, so-"

"What are you talking about? I love to battle! Plus, I'm really starting to get the hang of using Xatu, so I want to see where this goes! I'll accept the challenge!" Then she ran behind the Xatu and looked expectantly at Jeremy. He slowly walked up and asked

"Are you sure about this Leera?" Leera nodded, not looking at him, but rather focusing on her opponent.

"All right, then. Arthur, would you be the ref?" Arthur nodded, then joined them, standing in the middle of the two and off to the side.

"I'll let you have the first move, Lyra." Lyra smirked and said

"You'll regret doing that. Xatu, Miracle Eye, now!" The Xatu made no movements, but his eyes began to glow in a strange multi-colored hue. The sight left Leera uneasy.

"Okay, Leera, use Night Slash!" Jeremy ordered her. Leera grinned, knowing that was a good move choice. Maybe he was learning after all. The attack started at the base of her horn, and soon a dark aura encompassed the entirety of it. Leera began charging forward, zigzagging so as to confuse her prone opponent.

"Xatu, Future Sight, quickly!" Lyra called out. The Xatu still didn't move, but his multi-colored eyes suddenly flashed in a white and purple light. The sight unnerved Leera again, but she persisted. When she got close, she jumped over the Xatu and swung her head down, knocking the Night Slash directly at her opponent's back. Then she bolted back to her side of the field and turned to observe her handiwork. The Xatu was still in the same position as before, as if it hadn't even noticed her attack.

"Alright, Xatu, use Wish!"

The Xatu's eyes lit up yet again, and Leera was panting from her exertion. She had run hard to avoid any lash-backs from the bird, but it was clear that wasn't going to happen. Strangely enough, the multi-colored glow had disappeared from his eyes, which made Leera sigh in relief, until Lyra said

"Miracle Eye!"

Then it was back, and at this point Leera was really starting to get irritated. Then a white glow overcame the bird, and when it faded the bird seemed to have regained its energy. Just after Leera observed this, a strange force hit her right in the head, or so it seemed. She shakily rose to her feet and stumbled a bit before regaining her footing and shaking herself.

"What was that?" Jeremy asked. Lyra grinned and replied

"That would have been Future Sight." Jeremy regarded her with confusion, then asked

"But isn't that a Psychic move? Leera's a Dark type, that shouldn't be effective!"

Lyra closed her right eye, put her left hand on her hip, then raised her right hand and began waggling her finger.

"Ah, but I used Miracle Eye before using it. It's a move that some Psychic types can learn which allows Dark types to be hit with Psychic moves. It also guarantees that the next move will hit, so you could run around all you wanted, but you wouldn't be able to escape. Now, it's time to finish this. Xatu, Sky Attack!"

The bird's eyes flashed and a strange glow surrounded his body. Leera tensed up, waiting to hear her trainer's next call.

"Do you have any ideas, Leera?"

Leera looked back at him for a moment, then snorted and returned her attention back to her opponent. It probably wasn't a good idea, but since she was out of options, she opened her mouth and used Perish Song.

It was a strange piece, both beautiful and haunting, a lilting melody that spoke of imminent defeat. It was the sort of melody that lulled one in and put them off at the same time. Then something incredible happened; the Xatu finally moved.

The glow surrounding it grew more intense, and it spread its wings, flapped once and was in the air. After a couple more flaps, it reached a decent height, then began to dive-bomb Leera. She looked back and forth, feeling if she tried to run, the Xatu would follow her. So she decided on a riskier move.

She charged a Night Slash on her horn and waited for the approach. When the Xatu was within ten feet of her, she began to charge. She hoped to stop its momentum enough to lose the attack. Failing that, she hoped to stall long enough for the Perish Song to take effect.

She jumped to meet the Xatu head-on, but that would prove to be her undoing. As she jumped, the Xatu made a sudden motion, and he jerked into a head-dive but instantly pulled back and struck Leera right at her chest. She felt a sharp pain there, and then the world wasn't clear anymore. She could see bright orange flashes, which she assumed was the campfire. Then she felt a flat pain erupt on her back, and all was blackness.

**So, what do you think? Again, thanks to all my readers for sticking around for updates. I hope to see more reviews soon, and I'm also trying to come up with some more one-shots. If anyone has any ideas they might want to see, please let me know. I would like to try to write a story for anyone who asks, but I would prefer for it to be a one-shot idea. If you can't resist giving me a full story plot, go ahead, but I won't work on it until I have this story done. So, review or PM me, I'll be waiting!**


	6. Chapter 6

**The Absol's Curse, Chapter 6**

**Hey peeps, I'm back with another one! For the purposes of this chapter, Leera was knocked out from her battle with Lyra's Xatu. The story will pick up in Pewter City where Leera has been healed at the local Pokemon Center and Jeremy and Lyra are preparing to challenge the Pewter gym.**

My Purpose In Life

Leera opened her eyes slowly as she was woken by a bright flash of light. She found herself standing on a sort of cobblestone street. She was confused by her surroundings because last she remembered they were in the middle of the forest. She looked curiously up at Jeremy, where he was still holding her ball. He put it back on his belt and said

"Mornin' Leera. Feeling any better?"

Admittedly Leera felt remarkably fresher than she remembered at that last battle. She looked at her feet for a second, then began observing her surroundings. She saw buildings, some taller than others, and lots of trees. She also spotted Lyra walking toward them. She had her Marill out of its ball and in her arms.

"Okay, we're set for tomorrow. The leader was out on business today, some sort of meeting or other, so we'll go tomorrow at high noon." Jeremy smirked and asked

"A little cliché, don't you think?" Lyra shrugged and said

"Maybe, but it was all I could get until next month. I swear, people are challenging left and right. FYI, we're participating in a tag-team battle. The leader's busy tomorrow, too. So the agreement is if we can beat him and a person of his choosing, we'll both be awarded badges." Jeremy shook his head in shock and said

"I've never heard of that method before." Lyra began walking to the exit of the town and Jeremy followed. Lyra then further explained.

"Yeah, it's a new development. Apparently the world is getting crazier and crazier, what with evil syndicates, pokemon underworlds and the like, and the ever growing issue of pokephiliasm. The League turns to the gym leaders since they're supposed to be the strongest trainers besides those in the League, as well as subsequent champions. They take care of these problems, but if they start getting out of hand, then the League and past champions step in. That's only happened a couple of times so far. Like when the Johto/Kanto champion, Lance, helped Ethan take down some Team Rocket admins back in Mahogany Town when they were messing around with the Gyarados at the Lake of Rage. They were sending out radio transmissions or something to turn the Gyarados shiny or something like that. They only managed to make one shiny, though, and Ethan promptly caught it to stop it from leveling the area. He still has it, you know, and he's managed to tame and train it very well. He was even using it against Team Rocket. Some irony, huh?"

Jeremy nodded a bit and mumbled some sort of assent. Lyra noticed and asked

"Is something wrong? Every time I talk about the stuff that Ethan and I did in order to save the world, you get all spacey. It's making me worry." Leera rolled her eyes and thought

"_This girl _cannot _be that dense." _Jeremy shook his head and said evasively

"No, there's nothing wrong, I'm just thinking is all." Lyra stared at him for a second, then turned back around and said

"Well, okay. But if there's anything wrong, you should tell me. We are friends after all."

"_How long was I out?"_ Leera asked herself.

Jeremy didn't answer and they continued out of the city. Leera looked around her and gave Jeremy a look, wondering what they were going to be doing. Jeremy noticed and told her

"We're going to be practicing for our gym challenge, Leera. And from what I understand, we'll also be practicing tag-team battling. That way we'll be prepared for whatever they throw at us."

"_That I very much doubt" _Leera commented to herself.

"So how are we doing this?" Jeremy asked Lyra. Lyra smiled, then pointed over to a clearing and said

"I figured we'd find a nice spot to train, then start up a double battle. It's not the same thing as a tag-team battle, but it _will _give you a good idea about timing and working around your teammates. Then I want to try letting two of our pokemon run themselves while you and I fight as the tag-team and get the hang of it."

Jeremy nodded and called out the rest of his pokemon even as Lyra did the same. Then they took their places, Lyra using Marill and Togetic, Jeremy using Leera and Spook. Leera looked rather warily at her new partner, never having seen him take anything seriously. But as she watched, his face settled into concentration, which surprised her. Then she turned her attention back toward her opponents and readied herself for the clash to follow.

"Leera, use Sucker Punch on Togetic, and Spook, use Shadow Claw on Marill!" Lyra smirked and waited for us to move close, then shouted

"Togetic, intercept that Shadow Claw; Marill, Aqua Ring!"

The Togetic jumped in front of Spook at the last second and was swiped with absolutely no damage, while Leera's Sucker Punch refused to connect. Jeremy's pokemon stepped back and awaited further orders.

"Leera, use Psycho Cut on Togetic! Spook, Curse Marill!"

As Leera charged at Togetic, the neon purple blade forming, Spook was surrounded by a dark, menacing glow that left him and surrounded the Marill, who appeared shortly disoriented.

"Togetic, Metronome!"

The Togetic struck up a hilarious pose and began dancing, the move being most prominent in its waggling finger. Suddenly a blue ball charged in its mouth and was fired at Leera before she could blink. The ball blasted her back and her body hit Spook, knocking him off balance before he could finish the attack, but it didn't prevent him from losing his health as the cost of the move. Jeremy growled in frustration, but not nearly as loudly as Leera and Spook, who were getting really pissed now.

"How is it you can blow us back without batting an eye?" Lyra winked at him, making him blush hard, and she replied

"I beat the Johto league! If I wasn't strong, it would a bit weird, wouldn't it?" Before Jeremy could answer, Lyra called out to her pokemon

"Togetic, use AncientPower! Marill, use Rollout!"

Glowing rocks surrounded the Togetic, which he fired at the Marill who was curling up into a ball. The rocks formed around it, catching everyone on Jeremy's side off guard. The Marill rushed up to Leera and Spook faster than they thought possible, and the attack knocked them both painfully back. When they landed, Spook was knocked out and Leera could barely get up.

"_Jeremy's pokemon are unable to continue, so the winner is Lyra"_ said Arthur who was acting the referee again. Jeremy sighed, then returned Spook and picked up Leera, carrying her to the edge of the battle field. Lyra followed, looking like she had something on her mind. Jeremy gently set Leera down and gave her a berry smoothie comprised of healing berries that had an exquisite flavor. As Leera drank, Lyra squatted down next to Jeremy and asked

"Are you really sure you want to be a trainer? I know I asked this while we traveled, but you never really gave me an answer. It just doesn't seem like your kind of thing." Jeremy sighed and looked at her in despair.

"But if I can't be a trainer, what else can I do?!" Lyra thought for a moment, then said

"Well, you could always become a pokemon breeder, or even run a day-care for pokemon! My grandparents have one right now, and they do steady business, given that it's in Johto. The way you care for pokemon, it seems like that would be the kind of lifestyle you would enjoy more. You would get to work with yours and other people's pokemon, caring for and raising them, sometimes even teaching them new moves! Trainers are always surprised but generally delighted to know that their pokemon learn more powerful moves. Some might even put in a request for you to evolve them, or for advice on how to. While we talked, you showed me a lot of pokemon know-how. I think you would be excellent at running a day-care center."

Jeremy looked up at her again, hope filling his eyes, and he asked

"Really?" Lyra nodded, then said

"Sure. Maybe you can help me right now, actually. I heard that Togepi has a final form after Togetic, but I don't know what it is or how to get it there. Do you know?" Jeremy nodded and said

"That's an easy one! The last form of Togepi is Togekiss. You get that by using a Shiny Stone on Togetic."

Lyra jumped up and ran over to her bag, dug through it for a second, and brought back a small, cloudy white stone that appeared to have a bright light in the middle of it.

"You mean like this?" Jeremy nodded and said

"All you have to do is touch the stone on Togetic's body and it will evolve." Lyra tensed up in obvious excitement, then shouted

"Togetic, come here!"

Togetic fluttered its way over to her and landed right in front of her, whereupon she presented the stone to it. The Togetic took the stone in its hands, and it was instantaneous. It was surrounded by a bright white light that, when faded, revealed a pokemon that looked somewhat like a bird but still had the red and blue patterns that Togetic had on its body. The new Togekiss took off into the air and began to fly gracefully around, looking like it was having the time of its life.

"Wow, she's beautiful, and she looks so happy. Thank you, Jeremy, you were right!" Grinning at the ecstatic pokemon, he said

"Glad I could help. So, if a day-care is in my future, what'll we do about the gym battle tomorrow?" Lyra waved a hand and said

"I'm sure the leader won't mind only taking one of us on. Besides, that makes it a little less confusing. When we're done, I'll take you to see my grandparents, they could give you some advice on how to start and run a day-care, and might even enlist you as an apprentice or something. My grandfather _has_ been looking for someone, hoping to retire soon. Maybe, if we're lucky, you'll be able to take over. I can't guarantee anything, but it's something to hope for." Jeremy stood, excited now.

"Alright, how are we going to get there?" Lyra reached into her bag again and drew out a little plastic card which she handed over to Jeremy.

"That's a Magnet Train pass. Don't lose it, it's the only one I've got. It'll transport you back and forth between Saffron City and Goldenrod as much as you want. My grandparent's day-care is a short ways down below Goldenrod. We've been to Saffron a couple of times, so Xatu knows the way. He'll take you over there. Here, hold on to his pokeball so nothing happens. I'll stay here and ride Togekiss back to Goldenrod once I complete my gym challenge here. Then I'll introduce you to my grandparents, and hopefully things will run smoothly from there."

Jeremy nodded and grasped the pokeball, then turned to Xatu questioningly.

"So, how do I do this?" Lyra giggled and said

"Just hop on his back and tell him you want to go to Saffron City. He'll look into my mind to confirm it, then you'll be off! He'll drop you off right in front of the Pokemon Center, so grab a room for the night and hop on the Magnet Train tomorrow. It takes a few hours for the journey, but I'll be able to meet up with you quickly once I'm finished. Please take care of Xatu for me, okay?"

Jeremy smiled widely and said

"Given what I plan on doing for a career now, it will be in my nature to care for him. You can count on me!"

Lyra giggled again, making Jeremy blush. Then he returned Leera to her pokeball, as well as the remainder of his pokemon, then hopped onto Xatu's back, feeling a little awkward with the position, then said

"Saffron City, please."

Xatu looked over to Lyra, who nodded. Xatu's wings spread wide and flapped, lifting them quickly off the ground. Soon the field was a green dot behind them, and Jeremy could feel his excitement at the prospects of working a day-care.

**Well, what do you think? I figured I would have a guy who wasn't the "hard-core, kick-your-ass" kind of guy, and I think I pulled it off. Anyway, we all know that day-care runners had to be young once themselves, so why not address that fact. I'm starting to ramble, so I'll end with this request; please review!**


	7. Chapter 7

**The Absol's Curse, Chapter 7**

**Okay, going for another yet again. I kinda feel like the story is coming to a close, though, I don't think it'll be able to go on for too many chapters, but we'll see.**

My Advice…

As Jeremy flew over the land, he was amazed by the greenery he saw. The rolling hills, the lush green pastures, and the dozens upon dozens of pokemon before him filled him with awe. He also passed over cities, some larger than others, but cities nonetheless. All the people below him looked so much smaller from this height, as though they were no bigger than a Roselia, which were small pokemon indeed. Then Jeremy could see the biggest city yet looming on the horizon, which was illuminated by the setting sun. It had been a long journey on the Xatu's back, who had to stop a few times to rest, but they had persisted and now they finally made it.

As Xatu descended, he angled slightly to aim toward the Pokemon Center. Then he spoke to Jeremy in his mind, taking him by surprise.

"_I will not be able to land with you on my back. I shall slow my descent to the point where you can safely jump off, then I wish to be returned to my ball. Is this acceptable, friend of Lyra?" _Jeremy blinked, then responded

"Of course. I didn't know you could use telepathy." Returning his attention to his flight, Xatu replied

"_Naturally, I just prefer not to. It is not an easy task to view the past and foretell the future at the same time, you know, so I tend to stay stock-still, not even blinking, so as to relieve the strain of doing such."_

Jeremy was stunned by his answer, but had no time to contemplate it. The Pokemon Center was fast approaching, but then it slowed, Xatu halting his descent bit by bit to make things easier. When they were in front of the doors, Jeremy hopped off Xatu's back, careful not to upset his flight. Then the Xatu landed in front of him, looking slightly weary from his day-long exertion. Jeremy pulled out his pokeball and aimed it at him, saying

"Thanks for your help, Xatu. Now take a well-deserved rest." The red beam shot out and hit him, sucking him back into the ball. Then Jeremy pushed open the doors and was greeted by one of the few people who could make him feel worried.

"Hello, and welcome to the Saffron City Pokemon Center. How may I help you?" This she said with a big, if somewhat creepy, smile. Jeremy pushed his apprehension aside and stepped up to the counter, saying

"I need a room for one night, and I need my pokemon attended to."

Jeremy put three pokeballs on the counter: Spook's, Leera's, and Xatu's. The nurse took them and said

"Of course. If you will wait a few minutes, I'll heal your pokemon, then we'll get you a room."

Then she turned and set the pokeballs on a machine and clicked it on. The pokeballs glowed eerily as the machine did its work for a few minutes. Then when the glow faded, the nurse picked up the pokeballs and grabbed a room key from a tacked up board a short distance from her counter. She set the pokeballs and the key on the counter and said

"Thank you for waiting, your pokemon have been restored to full health. We hope you enjoy the rest of your evening." She bowed, and Jeremy took back his pokeballs and scooped up the room key, then bowed back to the nurse and said

"Thank you for your help."

"Anytime!" the nurse replied with another smile.

Jeremy attached the pokeballs back to his belt and walked to the back of the Pokemon Center. He saw a long hallway that had multiple doors, and when he looked closely could see numbers on them. He glanced at the number on his key, then found the corresponding room and opened the door. Looking around, he could see it was a cozy, medium-sized bedroom complete with a bathroom and small kitchen. He dropped his supplies on the bed provided and dug out the means to eat. He began to prepare dinner, finding a small fridge that was stocked with chilled berries and water.

"Maybe the Pokemon Center isn't so bad after all…" Jeremy mumbled to himself. He retrieved the berries, then began to cook them. Berries were good if left wild, chilled they weren't bad, but if you knew how to cook them right, you could make a meal fit for a king.

When he was finished, he pulled out his pokeballs and released everybody, including Xatu. But it was clear that he wasn't hungry, so Jeremy returned him. His pokemon, on the other hand, were starving, with the exception of Spook, of course. Arthur, Scrap and Leera dug into their respective dinners, but Jeremy picked at his for a while. Leera noticed this and began to wonder what was going on. She grabbed Arthur's attention and asked

"Can you make a direct link between Jeremy's mind and mine?" Arthur finished the bite he had taken and responded

"Why do you wish to know?"

"Something's wrong with him, but I don't want to have to tell it to you and have the other two listening in on it as well." Arthur contemplated for a moment, his right hand resting on his chin. Then the Alakazam looked back at Leera and said

"I can, but I must have the full cooperation of all parties involved. I will not force my will upon another. Further, because it is I who is connecting your minds, I will be able to hear whatever you say to him. Do you wish to continue anyway?" Leera looked at Jeremy, then nodded and said

"Yeah, something's definitely wrong with him, and I feel he needs someone to talk to. I normally wouldn't be doing this, but I can guess what the problem is, and I think I'm the only one here right now that can help him." Arthur smirked and said

"Ah, so you have noticed it too? The boy is quite… enamored with the other trainer, Lyra, is he not?" Leera rolled her eyes and responded

"To the point of foolishness. Have you already talked to him about it?" Arthur nodded and told her

"Yes, while you were knocked out as a result of your battle with Lyra's Xatu he broached the topic with me. I gave him what advice I could, but it seems that he is more nervous than before. Perhaps a more… womanly touch is necessary for him to receive the message. Is that your intent?" Leera simply nodded and asked

"Will you help?" Arthur looked over to Jeremy and said

"_Master, Leera wishes to speak with you directly. I can connect your minds together to accomplish this, but I need your permission first." _Jeremy glanced over to Leera in surprise, then looked at Arthur and asked

"What exactly what does she want to speak to me about?"

"_I'll let her explain, if you will consent to mind connection. It will be… disorienting at first, but when that wears off, you will be able to hear her questions as though she was talking to you. She shall be able to do the same with you. Will you listen to what she has to say?" _Jeremy looked over at Leera for a minute, weighing his options, then said

"Sure, why not?" Arthur nodded, then gently took hold of both Jeremy's and Leera's minds and drew them together, using his own mind as a bridge. Leera shook her head, trying to clear it, then looked at Arthur, who nodded his head while still concentrating on holding the link.

"_So, what did you want to talk about, Leera?"_ Jeremy asked her.

"_Why are you making such a fool of yourself over that girl? It is most unbecoming of you, and I would like an explanation." _Jeremy smirked and said teasingly

"_Oh, are you jealous or something?" _Leera blushed and flustered.

"_What?! Me, jealous of… that… that-"_

"_That _what_, Leera?" _Jeremy asked her, his eyes narrowing now. Leera recognized that she was wading in dangerous territory, so she chose some softer words.

"_That girl, why would I be jealous of that girl?" _Jeremy shrugged and replied

"_How should I know, I never understood girls anyway. But recently… I've found myself… I'm not sure exactly what, but there's something about girls that I've noticed lately…" _It was Leera's turn to smirk as she said

"_Oh, I already know you're turning into a horny-"_

"_LEERA!"_ Leera jumped at Arthur's voice interrupting her sentence. She glared at him, but he trounced her glare with one of his own before saying

"_Be careful what you say. Remember, I have a hold on your mind right now and will not hesitate to punish you if you begin degrading our master. Keep that in mind."_

Leera shuddered as she understood the threat behind his words, then turned back to Jeremy and chose her words more carefully this time.

"_I already know that you're… becoming more interested in women. Arthur told me you talked with him before on the subject, but it didn't seem to work. So for now, I'll act the part of a counselor. What exactly is going through your mind right now?"_

Jeremy stared at Leera with his mouth hanging open, not believing what he had heard.

"_Is this really you, Leera? This doesn't sound like you. What are you playing at? I thought you hated me." _Leera thought for a second, then replied

"_I don't hate you, I just don't particularly like you. And normally I wouldn't care about this, but it seems to me that if you remain distracted on this subject, it could jeopardize any chances of a future career, which would spell trouble for all of us. So, I'll try to help you since I appear to be the only female in this group that can right now." _Jeremy nodded then and said

"_Okay, thanks Leera. I guess we'll see if you can help. Maybe you can, but that all depends on how well this goes, I suppose. So, how do we start?" _Leera lay down on her stomach, placing her forepaws in front of her and asked

"_What exactly goes through your head when you see or think about Lyra?"_

"_Not wasting any time, huh? Well, I get a strange twinge in my stomach, and I can feel my face growing hot. As for my brain, well, it goes totally blank. All I can do is think about how she looks, how strong she is, and how much I…"_

"_How much you what?" _ Leera prompted him.

"…_how much I… want her…" _Jeremy finished. Leera flinched in shock, then composed herself and said

"_And I take it you haven't told her how you feel about her yet?" _Jeremy shook his head sadly and replied

"_I can't. I get all tongue-tied when I try to speak to her, and even if I didn't, how would I go about saying something like that without sounding like a horny bastard?" _Leera gazed at the floor for a few seconds, then looked back up and said

"_Just tell her how you feel. If she accepts, then accept it. If she rejects you, then move on." _Jeremy shook his head again and told her

"_It's not as easy as that, Leera. I don't want to push her away, and if I do that it would be like shoving her. I don't think I could bear doing that." _Leera rolled her eyes and said accusingly

"_So do you think this will be like a fairy tale? That you'll both just go off on a magnificent adventure together and share your first kiss under some dancing elves or something? If you want something done about this situation, then you need to take the initiative! Don't wait around for fate to answer your questions for you, because it will never answer!" _Jeremy flinched at the harshness in her voice, then asked tentatively

"_You say that as if you have had experience in the matter. Did something similar happen to you?" _Leera scowled at him and said

"_I'm asking the questions here."_

"_Just answer mine and I'll drop it. Come on, Leera. What happened to you?" _Leera stared at him in annoyance, then to get him off her back she decided to tell him.

"_It was long ago, back when I first started my duties as an Absol. When we come of age, our horns grow in. These horns detect weather patterns, shifts in pressure, and other such things to signify a disaster. Then we receive small visions of where the event is to take place, and nine times out of ten it is usually a few days walk away. We visit the site to confirm it, then try to warn any nearby people of impending doom. It almost never works, but we have to try anyway. In the event we can manage to convince humans that we are trying to _help_ them, we lead them a safe distance away from the site of the disaster and move on."_

Jeremy listened with rapt attention, increasingly interested in Leera's story. Then he saw her posture slump a bit, as if she was depressed about something. He listened more attentively as she continued.

"_When I started, I already had a prospective mate. He was a good childhood friend of mine, and our parents were very friendly with each other. We had birthdays close to each other, we didn't live very far apart, and we played together every day before coming of age. I matured first, so my horn came in first, but his grew faster. Our horns were the same length, the normal length for Absol, when we were ready to head out on our own."_

Jeremy stared at her, then asked

"_What is his name?" _Leera looked up at him with sad eyes, appearing vulnerable.

"_Was. His name _was _Lackar. And he was the kindest soul I ever knew." _Jeremy regarded her with shock, then softly said

"_So, he isn't…I mean… he's…"_

"_Yes, he's dead. And he has been for a long time." _Jeremy hung his head, ashamed.

"_I'm sorry, Leera." _Leera didn't respond.

"_How… how did he die?" _Taking a deep breath, Leera continued.

"_It was a bright sunny day, and we were walking through the forest together. We had just found a cave that would serve as our home since we planned to become mates. We loved each other deeply, and I can still remember our hunts for prey, as well as the storms we weathered huddled together in our cozy little cave. He managed to learn Flamethrower along the way, so we always had a nice little fire to snuggle up by. One night, he had a vision of a dam breaking that would wipe out a small village that was about a week away. Absol, as a rule, do not travel together when we go to save humans, so he left me then, promising he would come back as soon as he could. So I waited. But a couple of days after the first week, I had a vision myself. It was that of Lackar lying on the ground, bleeding profusely. I took off in the direction of the village that he left for, not stopping for anything, not food, not water, and I hardly slept the entire time. My fear was too great."_

Tears started to spill from her eyes, and Jeremy could feel his heart breaking for her.

"_After a week, I reached the village, breathing hard, and practically coughing blood. I searched frantically for him, but I couldn't see him anywhere. I could see the destroyed village, still flooded from the dam. Then I heard two bangs ringing out in the air. My heart dropped, as I recognized the sounds of the weapons the damn humans used! I ran in the direction of the shots, and when I emerged from a bush into a clearing, I could see Lackar lying on his side, bullets having torn through his body. The humans who shot him were already gone, so I ran up to him, shouting his name. He looked at me, and the last thing he said to me was… I love you."_

Then Leera broke down completely, sobs racking her body. Jeremy slowly stood and walked over to her, then hugged her gently, but she didn't seem to notice.

"_I'm so sorry, Leera." _Leera continued on, though her sobs were more prominent through their connection.

"_After that, I grew to hate each and every human, no matter who they were or what they had done, good or bad. They were all the same filthy, biased bastards that had killed my mate. I tried to rebel against my duties, believing that all humans deserved to die since more often than not, they brought the disasters on themselves but blamed those who tried to help them!"_

Jeremy kept trying to comfort Leera, who had one last thing to say.

"_I believed that fate had brought Lackar and I together, that fate would keep us together through our prolonged lives. Then fate gave him that vision to save that village, but I felt that fate would bring us back together again. It turned out fate had a different plan in mind, and I put my faith too strongly in it to see the potential dangers for our kind. So don't rely on fate for anything, because when you turn your back, that's when you get stabbed."_

Then Leera told Arthur to end the connection and slunk to a corner of the room and collapsed, still sobbing. Jeremy returned to his bed, thinking about what he had heard from Leera. He couldn't fathom losing someone so close to you. Nor did he want to. If anything, Leera's story had reinforced his will to tell Lyra what he felt about her. 

**Well, that's Leera's past. Anyone wonder why she hates humans with a passion now? It makes me sad to read this, and I'm the author! Tell me what you guys think about this chapter.**


	8. Chapter 8

**The Absol's Curse, Chapter 8**

**Okay, so when we left off, Leera had just told Jeremy her story of how and why she hated humans. Needless to say, Jeremy feels bad for her and wants to cheer her up. Will he be successful? Read and find out.**

Please Help…

When Jeremy woke up the next morning, he found he had a massive buildup of gunk in his eyes. He had cried after hearing Leera's story, but not while she would be able to see. He knew she didn't want pity. After he rubbed the gunk out of his eyes, which were slightly sore, he glanced over to his Absol, and he could tell that she was suffering from a nightmare of some sort. He could only guess what was ailing her in her dreams, but given what he recently heard, he could take a pretty good guess.

He silently walked over to her and gently shook her, determined to end the nightmare. She flinched when she woke and saw Jeremy sitting next to her, then relaxed when her memories came back.

"Good morning, Leera" Jeremy told her. Leera didn't respond as she turned her head away, obviously still depressed. Jeremy knew it would sound cold-hearted, but he needed to tell her anyway.

"Listen, Leera. I know you're going through a hard time right now, but you shouldn't let your feelings overcome you. I realize it was… bad… but you need to move on."

He fully expected her to turn at him in anger, possibly even lash out at him. He was prepared for such a thing and would let it pass without incident. However, what greeted him was by far the worst thing that could have happened. Leera turned to him, but instead of anger, he could see despair and hopelessness in her eyes. He knew she was hollow, dead, on the inside, and nothing he said would be able to bring her around again. He almost panicked at this sight, but managed to calm himself enough to ask

"What would you like for breakfast?" Leera just hung her head and shook it, signifying that she didn't want anything to eat, and Jeremy feared that she had the _worst_ kind of depression out there. He kept his hopes up as he said

"Come on, now. You _have _to eat something."

Leera shook her head again and said something in her language that he couldn't understand, and he was certain he didn't _want_ to understand it. She slowly stood, still having a depressed air about her, and she walked numbly to her pokeball which she tapped and was sucked in.

Jeremy was really concerned for her now, but he didn't know what he could do. He remembered some idiotic advice his rather stupid and sadistic friend had given him. He had a pokemon who lost her mate shortly before being captured by him, and he decided that getting her another mate, identical to the one she had lost, would fix the problem. The result was him winding up in the hospital for six months and his pokemon was put down for aggravated assault on a human, specifically her trainer. Jeremy had ended all contact with him after that event, but only after telling him he had gotten what he deserved, and if his pokemon hadn't done that to him, then _he_ would have.

There was no way in the Distortion World he was going to try to find a mate for Leera, unless she asked him, and risk her wrath. But he couldn't very well leave her the way she was. He hurriedly cooked breakfast, waking Scrap and Arthur and even coaxing Lyra's Xatu to eat. He didn't eat anything, however, a fact that was not lost on Arthur.

"_Master, what is wrong?" _Arthur asked him. Jeremy smiled dully and responded

"Can't you tell?"

"_No, I refuse to force my way into another's mind except under the direst of circumstances. Please, what ails you?" _Chuckling humorlessly, Jeremy said

"The direst of circumstances. Leera's suffering from extreme depression right now after having told me her story, and I'm worried that she doesn't want to live anymore. She refused to eat anything today so far, and I think she's going to continue that trend. I don't know what to do, but I'm going to talk to Lyra whenever we meet up again." Arthur nodded and said

"_Good, maybe she will be able to help us. Who better to help a girl than another girl?" _Jeremy chuckled again and said

"Yeah, whatever we guys _try_ to do to cheer a girl up, it usually makes it worse. I shouldn't have asked her to tell me what happened. Arceus, I'm so stupid!" Jeremy shouted, smacking himself on the forehead.

"_No, you are not. You had no way of knowing that reliving her past would cause such a reaction to her, nor was it your intention to do so. If I had to guess, I would imagine you would never bring the subject up again?" _Shaking his head, Jeremy said

"No, never. No one should have to relive pain like that. In all truth, I shouldn't have brought up the subject in the first place."

Arthur remained silent then and finished his food. When everyone was done, Jeremy quickly cleaned the room up and packed his supplies, then returned everyone remaining to their pokeballs, then left the Pokemon Center followed by the Nurse's finishing line;

"We hope to see you again!"

Jeremy ignored this and made his way around town, looking for the Magnet Train. He double-checked to make sure he still had the train pass. He asked for directions a couple of times, and the building finally came into sight. He breathed a sigh of relief, then entered and walked up to the counter and presented Lyra's pass.

"Okay, thank you for riding with us today! The next train will be here in about five minutes, so you can wait in those chairs over there. We'll notify the passengers when the train arrives. For the safety of you and your pokemon, we ask that you keep your pokemon in their pokeballs at all times. Thank you for listening to and complying with our rules, and have a nice trip!"

Jeremy waited the five minutes, thinking about how he was going to explain the situation to Lyra. Last night, his priority had been devising a strategy to tell her how much he liked her. With recent events, however, that plan had drastically altered to potentially saving Leera's life! A train whistle blew loudly and a soft female voice could be heard on the intercom. It said

"Attention, passengers, the next train to Goldenrod City has arrived. Please gather up your belongings and proceed to the loading station. Thank you."

The intercom clicked again and Jeremy stood, picked up his pack and walked to the loading station. He wasn't the first to arrive, but he wasn't the last. Nevertheless, a sizable line had formed in front of him, and Jeremy wondered if the train would be overcrowded before he got on.

As it turned out, he was the last person who could get on before the conductor had declared maximum occupancy had been reached. Jeremy breathed a sigh of relief, then walked down the train to find the last seat. He found it next to an old gentleman who graciously moved his belongings aside without complaint. Jeremy thanked him and took his seat, then inquired the man

"Why didn't you put your belongings in the above compartments, sir? They put those there for your convenience, you know." The gentleman grunted lightly and replied

"I never trusted those things. Every time I put my luggage up there, it ends up crashing down on my head, and I'm not what I used to be. I still enjoy life and wish to continue living as much as I possibly can."

Jeremy scrutinized the gentleman further. He was wearing a long blue overcoat with a white scarf over it. The coat was buttoned up and hid his shirt, but Jeremy could see the light tan khakis he wore, along with the cane he held onto. He was balding slightly, but still had a good amount of hair left, which was all white. He extended his hand to Jeremy and said

"Name's Pryce, by the way. Nice to make your acquaintance, mister…?"

"Jeremy, my name is Jeremy" he quickly answered, taking the man's hand firmly and shaking it. Then he said

"I wish somebody I knew could view life the way you do." Pryce raised his eyebrows and said

"Oh? Who is having problems right now?" Jeremy unclipped Leera's ball and held it in front of his face, then replied

"My Absol, Leera. Last night I rented a room at the Pokemon Center, and after dinner she asked me what was wrong with me. You see, I met this girl recently, and I've wanted to tell her how I feel… but I'm too much of a coward. So Leera tried to…help me… but in the process I made her tell her… rather painful past, in which she lost both her childhood friend and mate. Now she's suffering from depression and I don't know what to do."

Pryce nodded and said

"They say time heals all wounds, but that's only if you consent to live long enough with the pain. And I believe that time cannot heal everything. Love, for example, is a matter that usually takes time to flourish, and to take that away so suddenly… well, it will take easily twice as long to cope with the pain as it did for the love to flourish in the first place. How was Leera before she told you her story?"

Jeremy thought back to their travels together in full, then responded

"She was curt and irritable, didn't like me very much, and was willing to defeat me in battle for release. She didn't like my battling skills, which is to say none, but loved my cooking. But even that wasn't enough to convince her to eat breakfast. Just before I met her, she stated that she had tried and failed to save a town from a volcano. That certainly didn't help her mood. Then we traveled together for a while, and one night she challenged me to a battle, saying she would submit if I won, but demanded release if I lost." Pryce listened intently, nodding every now and again.

"Recently, we met up with this girl, Lyra. I was taken by her almost instantly. We had a battle at Leera's insistence against her Xatu, which she lost, and we traveled to Pewter City. Along the way, I got to know her better, and I realized I wanted her. Not in the way you might imagine, so please don't criticize me." Pryce smiled widely and said

"Do not worry, Jeremy. I tend to believe in the best of people, and I understand what you're talking about. And I know Lyra, by the way. She is a very accomplished trainer in the Johto League, and I believe she said something about taking on the Kanto League."

Jeremy nodded and said

"Yeah, in fact she's challenging the Pewter City gym right about now" seeing it was about noon. Pryce nodded again and said

"Good, then she is continuing on her path. Now back to your issue, you wanted to tell her how you felt about her, but after last night your priority is to help your Absol, correct?"

"Yes," Jeremy replied "except I don't know how I can, and if I don't come up with something, she'll probably starve herself to death!" Pryce waved a hand and said confidently

"Oh, I doubt she'll do that. It'll probably take some time, but I'm sure she'll come around." Jeremy looked into his eyes in despair and said

"No, I could tell it in her eyes. She doesn't want to be wherever her lifelong friend and mate isn't. She's feeling absolutely dead and hollow inside, and she can't stop crying either." Pryce's eyes widened in shock, then he hung his head and shook it slowly, saying

"Oh, my. I know that look. I have seen it, only once before, but it has haunted me to this day."

"What do you mean?" Jeremy asked. Pryce looked up to the ceiling, then replied

"One day, during my travels, I was walking along the forests on the tops of Mt. Silver. It's a beautiful place, really, but that day was filled with darkness. There had been a forest fire, started by Team Rocket to flush out some pokemon for their boss or something. I took out my pokemon and defeated a few, but more managed to run away with a large haul of innocent pokemon. I walked into the forest, trying to see who I could help. What I saw dismayed me; there were bodies of pokemon littered across the snow."

Jeremy's face showed revulsion and horror.

"Worst of all, I could see a little Froslass, crying over the body of what I assumed was her mate, a Glalie. I approached her and she attacked me. I understood that she had every reason to attack a strange being that closely resembled the ones who caused her misery. While I dodged her attacks, I tried to convince her I was a friend. Eventually my message got through, and when she understood I wanted to help her, she collapsed in my arms and began sobbing uncontrollably. I used my translator and learned from her that her mate, the Glalie, had been murdered in front of her eyes, and her only child had been taken from her. She knew she would never see her child again, so she felt that life wasn't worth living anymore. The only problem was, she was a Ghost type, and they do not die so easily. She didn't eat, so she couldn't starve herself, she floated so she couldn't be hung, and I continually tried to make her see reason. But I was too late one morning. I went to the bedroom I had given to her for her recovery, but all I found was a bible and a cross; she managed to exorcise herself. How, I do not know, but I do know it is a painful process for Ghosts, so it wasn't easy. But she managed it. After that, the tortured expression she kept on her face remains in my memories, and I vowed that I would never see that look on anyone's face again, no matter what I had to do."

Jeremy faced forward in his seat and thought over what Pryce had told him. He knew he had to save Leera, but he wasn't sure how he could. He looked up at the ceiling himself and sent a silent plea to Arceus, the only one he believed could help at this time.

**Oh, man, this is getting tense isn't it? So, Leera has collapsed into a crushing depression. Will she ever come out of it? Stay tuned to find out more.**


	9. Chapter 9

**The Absol's Curse, Chapter 9**

**Okay, I can feel this story coming to a close, but I might leave room for a sequel, that way if it's in popular demand I can do so. This story has about one, maybe two chapters left in it, so let's get started!**

My wishes…

As the train pulled into Goldenrod, Jeremy shook hands with Pryce again and thanked him for listening. The old gentleman nodded and said

"I'm glad I was able to help ease your burden, if only a little. I hope you succeed in your endeavors, and that we may one day meet again."

Jeremy nodded in return and exited the Goldenrod City station. He looked around him to try and get his bearings. He had never visited the Johto region before, so everything was completely new to him. He walked around for a while, hoping he might run in to Lyra at some point. He rounded a corner and saw a bright red building that he recognized as this town's Pokemon Center. He walked inside, thinking she might be in there if she was here. As he entered, he looked carefully around him, and when he didn't spot her, he walked up to the counter attendant, whereupon she said

"Hello, and welcome to the Goldenrod City Pokemon Center! How may I help you?" Jeremy asked

"I'm looking for a friend of mine, her name is Lyra. Do you know if she has a room rented here or not?"

"Let's see…" said the nurse as she brought out a clipboard and read over the names. Jeremy recognized it as the paper for the signatures for people that rent rooms, having had to sign one himself back in Saffron.

"Sorry, I don't see a 'Lyra' on here. Are you expecting her for something?" Blushing a bit, Jeremy replied

"Yeah, uh… we were going to visit her grandparents today, they run a pokemon day-care, and I was going to ask for advice on how to start my own. Being a trainer hasn't really worked out, so I wanted to try that… By the way, can you check my Absol? Right now she's under some serious depression, and I want to make sure her health isn't compromised or something."

The nurse's smile faltered for a moment, and she asked

"Do you have any way of knowing why she would be depressed at the moment?" Hanging his head, Jeremy said

"Yeah, she told something that occurred in her lifetime, losing her childhood friend and mate of old. After that, she hasn't been the same. She refuses to eat or drink anything, and I don't know what to do." Nodding, the nurse said

"Okay, hand her over and I'll see what I can do." Jeremy passed Leera's pokeball to her and said

"Thank you." The nurse nodded and quickly bustled into a back room. Jeremy went to the chairs by the entrance and sat down, feeling weary despite not having done anything in particular. He closed his eyes to rest for a minute, but before he knew it, he was woken up by someone shaking his shoulder.

"Wake up, Jeremy." Opening his eyes slowly, he recognized the figure in front of him.

"Hey, Lyra. How's it going?"

"I could ask you the same thing. What are you doing sitting here? What are you waiting for?" Chuckling, he said

"Well, I was waiting on you mostly, but I'm in here because I'm getting Leera checked." Concern covered Lyra's face as she sat next to him and asked

"What happened?" And so Jeremy began to tell her what happened, passing over her Xatu as he did. When he finished, Lyra's face held a mixture of both sadness and worry.

"Do you think she'll be okay?" Jeremy hesitated and said

"I'm not sure, but I hope she will be. I don't want anything to happen to her." At that point the nurse returned to the front desk, replacing the Chansey who had temporarily taken her place and called out

"Jeremy?" He and Lyra jumped up and quickly walked to the desk, whereupon Jeremy asked

"How is she?" The nurse replied sadly

"Not good. She is in an extreme depressive state right now, and the only thing that could possibly have a chance to help is medicine, but there aren't any medications for pokemon to treat this sort of thing, and I refuse to prescribe human drugs."

"Even if you prescribed them, I would refuse to give them to her. Plus, I doubt she would take them." The nurse nodded and handed back the pokeball, saying

"Then you are a very caring trainer. I hope you help your pokemon. I've done all I can; the rest is up to you." Jeremy thanked her and walked out with Lyra at his side, staring at Leera's pokeball in anxiety. Then he looked to Lyra and asked

"Do you have any ideas how we could help her?" Lyra sadly shook her head and replied

"No, not me. But maybe my grandmother can help; the day-care is only a few minutes below Goldenrod. I'll take you there."

So they walked on, Jeremy's hopes rising at the prospects that Leera could be returned to her former self. After about ten minutes, the small building came into sight and Lyra perked up a bit. She ran forward, shouting

"Grandma, Grandpa, it's me!"

An elderly gentleman who was standing outside the building looked toward her, wondering at the sound, and when he saw Lyra running at him, his face lit up and he turned to meet her. He grabbed her in his arms and hugged her tightly, she hugging him back. The sight warmed Jeremy's saddened heart, and he picked up the pace, reaching them when they began to talk to each other.

"It's been a while, child, why haven't you visited us sooner? Your Grandmother and I worry about you, you know?" Playfully rolling her eyes, Lyra responded

"Grandpa, I can take care of myself. Sorry I haven't visited sooner, I was busy kicking Rocket butt! And I was gathering gym badges along the way. Check out my newest one!" And she pulled out a new badge, one Jeremy hadn't seen yet, so he assumed it was the badge from Pewter City.

"Oh, isn't that one from Kanto? You're challenging the Kanto League now?" her grandfather asked, raising his eyebrows. Lyra beamed and said

"Yep! Oh, and along the way I made a new friend! Grandpa, this is Jeremy, he's looking to become a day-care servicer!" Lyra's grandfather looked up and scrutinized Jeremy, who stood still. He could see a twinkle in the man's eyes.

"Oh, is that right? Well, it's very nice to meet you, young man." He extended his hand and Jeremy took it up. When they finished shaking hands, Lyra's grandfather asked him

"So, what made you want to be a day-care person?" Jeremy responded

"Well, I originally became a trainer, but I don't have a knack for battling. But I care very deeply for pokemon and want to make their lives a little better, even if I can only work with the ones under my care. When Lyra suggested I become a day-care provider, the idea struck my very being with certainty. It sounded like the kind of thing that I might like, and she told me that you and your wife ran one and might be able to give me some advice, so I'm here to ask if you could help me on my quest to become a pokemon day-care provider." Lyra's grandfather nodded and said

"Well, I have been looking for an apprentice as of late. I think it's about time I retire from this business, but I wanted to leave it in good hands. How about I offer you a job here and you can check the business for yourself and see if it is indeed the right path for you?" Jeremy was struck by his kindness and said

"Thank you, I would love that!" The old man smiled and gestured, saying

"Well, come on in, then, and I'll give you the grand tour."

So for the next two hours Lyra, her grandfather, and Jeremy traveled around the day-care facility while Lyra's grandfather explained the intricacies of running a day-care. It involved a lot of work, but instead of putting Jeremy off, it made him happier. If he was working his hardest every day, then he could go to bed every night feeling successful. He eagerly asked when he could start, which amused and pleased Lyra's grandfather. They set a date when he could begin his apprenticeship, then Jeremy explained the issue he was having with Leera. Neither Lyra's grandfather or grandmother looked easy about it, but her grandmother said she would accept the task, not charging him since he was going to be working there. Jeremy thanked her deeply, touched. He and Lyra went back to Goldenrod for the night, Jeremy promising to return the next day.

**One Year Later…**

Jeremy stood tall and proud in front of the day-care facility, now the proud owner. He had worked tirelessly over the past year, and Lyra's grandfather had announced that he and his wife were finally retiring but leaving the day-care in more than capable hands. During that time, Jeremy had been taught thoroughly the basics, then the advances, of running his own day-care. When Lyra's grandfather said that he would be handing over the reins to Jeremy, he was absolutely ecstatic over the news. During his time, he had been given a Pokegear, which allowed him to make contact with the trainers who left pokemon under his care. He also had built up enough money to afford a pokemon translator, or Poketrans for short. In the intervening time, Lyra's grandmother had done her best on Leera, and while she didn't want to die anymore, she was still in a very depressed mood most of the time, choosing to spend hers gazing up at the sky in a secluded space. Jeremy didn't know what he was going to do with her, but he could feel that she wanted to talk to him.

In the year that had transpired, he managed to tell Lyra how he felt about her. Much to his surprise, and his delight, she reciprocated his feelings, and the two were soon together. Her grandparents had been excited to learn the news, and since then they had worked together to build the day-care into the proud facility it was now. Jeremy was closing up for the night, and as he was Leera came out of the forest and slowly walked up to him as Lyra joined him.

"…Jeremy?" Leera asked softly. Jeremy turned and said

"Yeah, Leera?" She gazed at the ground for a bit, then looked back up and said

"I want to be released." Jeremy looked over at Lyra, who reflected his expression of confusion and shock.

"Why?" he asked. Looking back at the ground, Leera responded

"I have no purpose here. I want to return to the wild." Jeremy stared at her sadly, then said

"Okay." Both Leera and Lyra looked up at him, shocked.

"Are you sure?" Lyra asked him. Jeremy walked toward Leera and kneeled, taking her face in his left hand, then asked

"Are you sure you want to leave? You have a home here, as well as friends who care about you. You won't have those comforts out there. Is this what you really want?" Leera nodded, then responded

"Yes. I have nothing to do here, and I'm growing tired of sitting in the same place every day. I wish to see the world again, and hopefully forget my troubles. I can't do that sitting here, so I want to be released."

Jeremy nodded sadly, then stood and unclipped Leera's ball from his belt. He held it out and it caught the light from the setting sun. The he dropped it to the ground and stomped on it, breaking it into little pieces, grunting as he did so. The sight seemed to make Leera happy, and she looked up with gratitude. Jeremy knelt back in front of her and told her

"But before you go, I want to let you know if you _ever_ get tired of the wilderness, or if you want to see your old friends again, or if you just want to say 'hi' and rest for a while, you will _always_ be welcome here. I'll take good care of you if you decide to return. Okay?" The offer brought tears to Leera's eyes, and she softly said

"Thank you." Then she addressed Lyra who was still standing behind him and told her

"Make sure to take good care of him. Make every day better than the one before it, if you can." Lyra nodded, then said

"Goodbye, Leera. Are you sure you won't spend at least one more night? It's a bit late to be traveling."

Leera shook her head and said

"No. I must leave now." Turning back to Jeremy, she said

"Thank you for everything you have done for me. I promise I will visit at least once, but probably not for some time." Jeremy nodded and said

"Have fun, Leera."

Without another word, Leera turned and ran into the forest, and Jeremy wondered how long it would be before he saw her again. Lyra joined him by his side, then he put his arm over her shoulders, and together they walked into the day-care to retire for the night, and before Jeremy closed the door, he had one final thought.

"_I just wish I could have done something… _more_… for her… I wish I could have broken that Absol's curse."_

_**Fin.**_

**Well, that is the ending of that story. Let me know what you all thought of it, please.**


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